Digital News Report- A rumor that has caused mass hysteria across the blogosphere about California banning black cars has been revealed to be false. Who would have guessed? The reasoning behind the rumor was that black cars absorb heat, which then make drivers use more air conditioning than other drivers. The fact that this idea sounds completely ridiculous didn’t stop mainstream media, such as the Washington Post, from reporting it.
“It’s completely fallacious,” said Stanley Young, a spokesman for California’s Air Resources Board, which was apparently behind the ban. “At no time was it mentioned, contemplated or proposed that we would ban or restrict any color.”
Rush Limbaugh was also quick to react as he urged listeners to rush out right now and buy a black car before they get ripped from the market. His article titled “Tyrants Want to Ban Black Cars,” outlines his outrage over the issue. So what caused this outrage? A single sentence in a CARB PowerPoint presentation that says “Jet black [paint] remains an issue.” Clearly that means they want to ban all black cars.
In reality, CARB was considering making a special reflective paint, which would not absorb as much heat, mandatory on all vehicles. However, they couldn’t find a suitable paint in black so they decided to go with plan b, which is a clear reflective coat over the windows. The window coat will add approximately $31-$50 to the cost of a new vehicle and save Californians millions of gallons of fuel a year by 2020. It’ll also drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.